Earlier this week, we wrote about the rumor and leak of a third generation Motorola Moto X and the story continues as supply chain companies appeared to be pointing towards Motorola offering two models of the Moto X, one based around a 5.2-inch display and the other based around a 5.6-inch display. The segregation between models appeared to be limited to the screen size as both use a QHD (that is, 2560 x 1440) resolution display and 3 GB of RAM. Some stories around the Internet point to the larger, 5.64-inch version being for Verizon Wireless with the smaller 5.2-inch model including other carriers. We’ll see how this story shapes up: various companies have sold similar products but with different screens over the years, such as HTC with the One (M7) and One Max, Apple with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and, arguably, the 2014 Moto X and Nexus 6, although here these two devices are family members they’re not so similar under the skin.
The story today is not about there being two products, which might be the Motorola Moto X, but instead it’s that Zauba, India’s import / export website, a GSM handset called the “Motorola Calisto” has been imported into the country for testing purposes. There isn’t much more information provided other than the devices were shipped from Canada. We can also see the price of the devices: just over $465 in US terms, although this is a shipping valuation rather than a retail price because these handsets are for sampling and testing purposes only. They are clearly marked “not for resale” in the shipping details. Nevertheless, given the quoted value of these devices, it would place them at the Moto X end of the Motorola scale rather than the Moto E or Moto G smartphones.
We understand that devices may be tested for some weeks if not months before they are deemed ready for release. There may also be changes implemented with devices, too, typically software adjustments. Carriers may also implement their own value-added applications into the software too (sometimes to the disappointment of customers) and for some devices and handsets, boot logos and flash screens are changed. A three to four month time scale between initial testing and device launch seems perfectly plausible. As soon as we hear any additional information, we’ll let you know.
